Editorial: Responsible decisions demanded

Americans are now making decisions on the value, or lack thereof, of the family home. Increasingly, children are in crisis situations that will define their future, and in some cases rob them of it.

Action is required. The answers are varied and come from several entities, including our government, unfortunately. Most start where families do — in the home.

Society’s accelerated path for children has created less time for a child to be just a child and experience growth. This is a problem around the globe, not just in the United States.

Children unaccompanied by parents crossing our border from Central American countries have fueled the call for immigration reform. But much less was heard in June when a rescue operation over the course of a week brought children as young as 11 from hotel rooms, truck stops and homes — all victims of child sex trafficking.

Of those 168, some were never even reported missing.

We can’t answer how that happens. States have varying policies on reporting missing children to law enforcement. So do parents. Raising children starts at home.

No matter the politics, most of us are sympathetic to what is driving children — about 57,000 between October and June — across the border. We’re disappointed, though not surprised, to learn via an Associated Press-GfK poll that our thoughts and choices on how to help the situation fall primarily along political party lines.

The reaction is really none too different than a decision earlier this week by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on same-sex marriage. The belief that a child’s home needs a mother and father wasn’t helped.

And that certainly raises the question for the value of a family in the more traditional sense.

Families and those who place value and belief in them have a big stake in each of these long-term outcomes. So do our children, whether they are sharing our country’s resources with immigrants, trying to help victims their age cope with ungodly criminal behavior or understanding alternatives to the traditional family.